Message on love/God Our Husband

God Our Husband

The first commandment is there is only One God and that we are to worship only Him. The second tells us that we are not to make any idols or worship them, and it continues to tell us that He is a jealous God. Now how can God be a jealous God, since God is love. In 1 Corinthians 13, we are told that love is not jealous.  So the question how can God be jealous, since He is love? These scriptures seem to be contradicting each other. How can both be true?

Think about marriage. As a husband or wife would you not become jealous if your spouse were look for love or pleasure  in another? I believe we all become jealous when the object of our love seeks love and attention from outside of your relationship. This jealousy does not mean that you do not love your spouse, but that because you are hurt and betrayed. There has become a separation in your relationship even if your husband or wife has not acted upon their desires, the mere thought is an act of adultery. Jesus taught us that if we even look at another with lust in our eyes we have committed the sin of adultery. Now God is called our husband and our maker, how do you think He feels when we turn to the world and seek after our selfish desires. We have betrayed Him and committed an act of adultery, by going after what we want without concern of the pain and damage we have caused.

Look at the life of Hosea. God has him marry a prostitute, knowing that she will not be faithful. Hosea could have refused God, but he chose to obey even though his marriage would cause him pain and shame. Yet just like God loved us so much that He gave His only Son to pay the price for our sins. When Hosea’s wife needed to be redeemed, Hosea paid the price and took her back home, forgiving her and loving her in spite of her actions. This is the love of God our husband.

How man of us are that committed that we would not only forgive the other but pay the pirce for their betrayal. Love and forgiveness are the gift God gives to us. Just as a husband and wife become one, when we enter into a relationship with Jesus we become one with Him. Since Jesus is one with the Father, and is also called our Groom. We are one with Jesus, and one with God, and His Spirit then comes to live in us. We become new. We are no longer who we  were before receiving Him as our Lord and Savior. He takes away our stony hearts, and gives us a new heart of flesh.

Becoming one with Him, no longer being double minded, and tossed about by the ways of the world. We become firmly rooted in His Love, His Truth and His way. One with Christ, One with God, and One with His Holy Spirit. We continue to learn who He is as we grow closer to Him. In learning who He is we learn how lto love, because we learn who love is. For with the new heart comes His love that now pulses through our body, and not only our body but His body as we learn to live in His love.

Scriptures to read

Exodus 20:1-6&14

1Corinthians 13

Deuteronomy 6:4-6

John 3:16

2Peter 3:9

Call To Prayer / Matthew 6:12

Matthew 6:12

ESV and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

KJV and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us

TLB and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.

GWT  Forgive us as we forgive others.

Call to repentance, asking for forgiveness and forgiving others is a included in the teaching gave us on prayer. Debts, sins, trespasses are synonymous. Acknowledging the wrongs we have done, repenting and forgiving the wrongs done to us by others. Just as God provides for our daily needs forgiveness is a daily thing for us to do. When Jesus was asked how many times awe should give His response was seven times seventy. He also told us if we are hit on one cheek to offer up the other one. Forgiveness is not easy but is necessary. The price Jesus paid for our forgiveness was with His own life. We should be thankful we don’t have to die to forgive because He has already done this, and thankfully He rose from the grave giving to us the keys to life. I am thankful that we are forgiven.

Call To Prayer ? Praying for our enemies

Jesus teaches to love those who hate you and bless those who curse you. Those who are in the world can find this almost impossible. Why would we love someone who hates us, and why would we want to bless them? To be honest I find this a difficult task. When someone hurts you, your reflex is to protect yourself and strike back. You have been hurt and you want to hurt the person in return, but this is not God’s way. While on the cross, Jesus said, ‘Forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.’ If it had been anyone else hanging on that cross dying for someone else’s crime, I do not believe they would have been asking for the ones who were responsible to be forgiven. It is His love that forgives us, even though we do not deserve His grace and mercy. We want the ones responsible for our pain to pay for what they have done, but Jesus died to pay that price. The best thing I can pray for one you would call my enemy is for them to receive the love of Jesus and repent. The blessing of His salvation, His love, and His healing. If they turn to Christ and give their lives to Him, they would no longer be our enemy, but a brother or sister in Christ Jesus. So I pray that anyone who has ever done you or myself wrong, repents and receive the blessing of His salvation. That they learn of His love and mercy, and that they grow in His love. I also pray that I can love them as Jesus loves me.

P.S. I hope this post makes sense, I am intense pain which fogs up my thoughts, but I wanted to write this while it was fresh in my mind.

Right Relations / Rough Draft Continues / Adultery

We have looked at adultery through the eyes of one who was cheated on, now let us look at adultery through someone committing the act. The best example found in the Bible is the story of David and Bathsheba. You can read about this in the Bible 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12. David who had fought in many battles before did not go with his army. Then one night while his soldiers were gone to battle David was home and woke up in the night. He went to his roof top and saw a woman bathing. He didn’t just watch her bathe, he inquired about who she was. Finding out that she was the wife of Uriah one of David’s soldiers. He still sent for her and slept with her. Then when she told him she was pregnant, David tried to cover up the affair, by first bringing Uriah back from battle. Yet Uriah did not go home and sleep with his wife. So David sent him to a place he was sure Uriah would die in battle. So not only did David commit adultery and betray one of his soldiers, he had the man killed and took Bathsheba for his own wife.  The story does not end there. The Lord sends Nathan to David to reprove him. Nathan confronts David about what he has done letting David know that God knows his sin and has removed it but one of the consequences of his sin is that the child will die and that the sword will never leave his house.

So David does finally acknowledge his affair but he had to be confronted first. How different the outcome might have been if he had owned up to his sin before trying to cover it up to only make it worse. They say it is better to tell the truth because when you lie you have to keep lying until you forget what you have said and eventually the lie is exposed. When we lie and cheat we hurt others and ourselves. These unseen wounds will not heal overnight. You broke the other’s trust in you and it will never be the same again.

What if it is you that has committed adultery? Are you still having the affair, or have you ended the relationship? Do you feel like there is no hope, and that you cannot be forgiven? Read John chapter 8. You will read about a woman caught in adultery and how Jesus forgives her of her sin and tells her go and sin no more. Acknowledge your sin and repent.  People may never trust you again and this might be the consequence of your sin. There is forgiveness in God’s love. As Jesus said, ‘Go and sin no more’.

Giving Thanks December 18, 2016 – Thanking God For My Mother’s Bible

Psalm 119:105 (KJV) Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

This Bible is one of my favorite treasures. I grew up not knowing that my mother had ever known or believed in Jesus. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I learned that she had been a Christian. Unfortunately after she married my father and he became very abusive, her relationship with Christ had been left behind. You cannot lose your salvation but you can turn your back on it and walk away. Finding my mothers Bible was the way I had found out about her faith. She told me when she met my father it was in her church’s rectory and she was a part of the youth missions. Unfortunately after they moved to the mainland their marriage turned to the worst and she stopped going to church and lived as if she never had attended. Yet this discussion led to others and over the years she talked more to me about praying for me. Then almost 5 years ago she died suddenly of a stroke. I was heart broken not knowing if she had repented and  returned to Jesus. It was hard enough to lose her in this life but I wondered if I ever would see her again. Then the year after she died just before Thanksgiving I received an email from my Auntie Mary who had written to tell me that my mother had received Jesus as her Savior some months before she died in her church New Hope Oahu, and then she included a clip of the praise and worship. Although I missed my mother terribly this was the best news. I watched the video with tears of joy and danced as I watched them hula as my mother used to love me to dance for her. I still cry when I watch these, but not with sadness of loss but because of the beauty of His love and mercy and the knowledge she is with Him waiting for me.

Her Bible is old and fragile but it is a map of the words she read and what ouched her heart and now these words comfort me.

I am thankful for the Word made flesh that saved my mother and for her Bible which is now mine.

 

The Greatest Of These

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NKJV) ^And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

     From beginning to end the Bible is about the love of God. God even showed Cain love after he killed his brother Abel. God was merciful to him by putting a mark on him to keep others from killing Cain. Jacob deceives his father and steals his brothers blessing, and God gives him a new name and he becomes Israel. Saul has Christians killed and on the road to Damascus he is blinded by God, and when God returns his sight he becomes Paul.

In the commandments God forbids adultery and murder but David has an affair with Bathsheba. When he learns that she is pregnant with his child he tries to cover up their affair. When he fails, he sends her husband out to be killed in battle. Does God give up on him or turn David away? No, He doesn’t. David didn’t have an easy life, the baby died and the problems he had with children covered things like one son rapes his daughter. Another son wants him dead, but God never stopped loving him.

The greatest story of the love of God is found in Jesus. His own Son is sent to pay the price for the sin of every person that will ever live. Jesus knew what He was facing when He came to redeem man. He was rejected, mocked, people wanted to stone Him, He was spit on, beaten, and then crucified. He did all this even though we are hateful, lying, manipulative, self seeking, cheating, thieves, idolaters, adulterers, fornicators and murderers to name a few of the things man is without Jesus. Yet no matter how bad we are He still loves us, and He has already forgiven us we just need to receive Him and His forgiveness.

John 3:16 (NKJV)   For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Share your favorite stories in the Bible of God’s love and mercy.

Do We Choose To Be Ignorant?

Is life easier for the ignorant, and the oblivious? Do we choose to be oblivious or ignorant so that we do not have to change, but at the same time expect others to change to suit our wants and needs? Does being ignorant give us a hall pass through life? I can claim ‘I didn’t know’, but does this mean that I am not accountable when I do something that is wrong and harmful, or if I hurt someone, including myself?

What does it mean to be ignorant?

ignorant – Simple Definition of ignorant

• : lacking knowledge or information

• : resulting from or showing a lack of knowledge

Source: Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

Examples: ignorant in a sentence

Tip: Synonym guide

Full Definition of ignorant

1. 1a: destitute of knowledge or education <an ignorant society>; also:  lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified <parents ignorant of modern mathematics>b:  resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence <ignorant errors>

2. 2:unaware, uninformed

ignorantly – adverb

ignorantness – noun

 

What the Bible says about ignorance.

Ephesians 4:18  being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

1 Peter 1:14  As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

Job 21:14  “They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.

Romans 1:28  And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Ignorance-Towards-God,-Leads-To

You can read Leviticus chapters 4&5 and see that sin committed even in ignorance has consequences.  So being ignorant does not excuse you from punishment. Could you imagine a criminal court hearing if ignorance gave us a free pass to do as we wanted? Imagine someone standing before a judge and they say, “Sorry your Honor I didn’t know what I did was wrong.” Then the judge declares them innocent and frees them to go back into the world only to commit the same crime again. (Okay, unfortunately this does occasionally happen, but that is a flaw in our judicial system)

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/lev/4/1/s_94001

Ignorance does not excuse wrong, hurtful, and even criminal actions. Wrong is wrong and sin is sin. Can one be forgiven? Yes anyone who repents and receives Jesus as their Lord and Saviour receives His forgiveness. Repentance requires one to acknowledge their own sins. You cannot confess your sin if you do not acknowledge it. Pretending it is not real or did not happen will not make it go away, and neither will sweeping it under a rug or hiding it in a closet. Until you expose it to His Light it will stay inside of you and eat away at you. Until finally it leads you to your death. You see there is a way that seems right to a man but it only leads to death. Sin leads to death, but Jesus who died to forgive us all of our sins gives us eternal life. For the only way to the Father is through the Son, and the only way to Jesus is repentance.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.

Romans 6:16 Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Proverbs 16:24-25  Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. 25 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

You are a student and this world and your life is your classroom. You cannot pas the exam if you do not study and do the lessons prior to the exam. Does this mean we are not allowed to make any mistakes? We all make mistakes, none of us is perfect. Not even the ones who think they are and who you might think are perfect are not. We all sin. The difference is that one person turns from their sin and to the Savior Jesus, and the other keeps on doing what please themselves.

Romans 3:23-24 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.…

In the end we will all face judgment and answer for our sins. There will be those who will receive mercy and eternal life, for they have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus. Then there are those who rejected Jesus and well you know their outcome.

So today if you have not yet decided to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior I pray that you repent and receive Him now. Do not waste another moment of your life without Him. Ignorance is not a safety net, and it will not save your life. Jesus is the only way!

ERASE

Take a piece of paper and write anything you want on it.

 

Now take an eraser and erase what you have written. What you wrote is now gone or is it?

Gently rub the side of the pencil over the area where you erased. You can now read what you had written then erased.

Whatever you may have done in the past is done and cannot be undone. Even if you could find a magic eraser, there would still be a trace of what was done. Does this mean that every mistake you have ever made will be held against you? Thankfully the answer to that question is ‘no’. None of us are perfect we have all done something wrong in our life that we cannot take back. There are no do over’s in real life. Yet we can take responsibility for our actions and make amends. Some may forgive us and there will be others who won’t. There will still be consequences for what we have done. So why bother? With man this is the trap we are in. How can we escape it? First we acknowledge that we are a sinner and that we have done things to hurt others and ourselves. Then we turn to God and repent. We receive the forgiveness that comes only through the blood of Jesus Christ. It is this blood that was shed for each of us who receives Him as Lord that wipes the slate clean. For those your sin was a red as scarlet you shall be made as white as snow. The hymn ‘Nothing but the blood of Jesus’ is one of my favorites.  There is nothing that I can do on my own power that will fix any wrong that I have done, but Jesus through His blood has the power to redeem me. He makes me new. Whoever I was before is gone. I have been born again, not to live life as I once did. I have a new life and a purpose. My desire is now to not only live forgiven, but to share the love of Jesus with others who are lost and hurting. Leading them to Jesus where they can find forgiveness and a new life that can only be found in Christ. If you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior you are a new creation with the same purpose. We are different and have different gifts but one purpose we all share and that is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

13. Dear Saul (Letters from God Volume II)

Dear Saul,

      Why have you have made it your mission to destroy Me and My children.  We were once so very close and you loved me.  Now you persecute Me.  Somewhere deep in your heart hides a memory of the love we shared.  As a young boy you saw me clearly.  Then as time passed and you grew older, and you grew apart from me.  My love was no longer enough for you.  Your studies and knowledge of the law became your god.  The law took the place of the love you once had for me.  Your position among the religious leaders continued to rise.  The more you persecuted and killed my children, the further away from me did you travel down your own path.  Your heart became like the stone I wrote my commandments upon.  However Moses did break the first stone tablet when he threw it down in anger when he saw that the Israelite’s’ had turned back to sin while he had been on the mountain with Me. 

      You took Stephen, and falsely accused him.  His trial was no more than a show to please the law you loved.  He was found guilty in your court and then had him stoned to death outside the city gate.  He died in front of you, yet now he lives with Me.

     What I have to say to you now is very important.  I am taking your sight from your eyes.  You will learn to see with your heart, for I will remove the heart of stone from you, and replace it with My heart.  The two men travelling with you will escort you to Damascus, and you will be safe.  I will come to meet you in three days.  I have more to speak to you about there. 

Until then, I love you,

                                      Jesus

Read

Acts 7:54

Acts 8:3-4

ACTS 9:1-12

Exodus 32:19

Proverbs 18:21 Power of life and death are held in the tongue.

Proverbs 18:21  ESV  Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

     A few years back I had come to realize that my speech was ugly and hateful. I had so much anger and resentment over the abuse and wrong doings that had happened to me were controlling me. I always felt the need to protect myself and the slightest wrong would allow me to justify to myself, a reason to retaliate. I did not have the physical ability to do harm but the words that came out of my mouth were as damaging as any physical damage a person could do. I had no intention of forgiving those who had hurt me. Then one day I heard the words spewing out of my mouth like lava from a volcano and realized that it did not matter how long ago I asked Jesus into my life, I had not learned to forgive as I had been forgiven. If I did not learn how to forgive all the hatred and bitterness of forgiveness would destroy me and anyone I cared about. I learned that forgiveness was not an emotion that I needed to feel, but an action I had to do, so that I might find peace.

     I started keeping a journal and decided that I had to change how I spoke. Going to church alone was not going to make the necessary changes I needed to make. So every day I had to make the decision to speak words of life, encouragement, healing, praise and thanksgiving. This was not an easy task, and I failed many times, but I wrote down my failures keeping myself accountable. When I blew it and let anger or any other negative emotion raise it’s ugly head and spoke harsh and hateful words, I confessed to Jesus, repenting and giving Him thanks for His grace. I also knew that I could not do this on my own, so I searched His Word and submitted myself to His will. I knew the days of demanding my own way had to come to an end. I am no where near perfect but I am thankful that He is transforming me into a woman that is pleasing to Him, and that it is His Word that gives me the direction that I need.

A few of the scriptures I have focused on are
Proverbs 18:21, Proverbs 15:4, Psalm 141:3, Psalm 34:13
1Peter 3:10, the book of James, but some specific verses are 1:26,
and 3:2-10. Search the scriptures for yourself, because there are so many more than these few. God can change you if you allow Him to.